Category: Food

Many thanks to our hosts Hi-Suk and San Ju for a wonderful day at their gorgeous country home in Guinda, Califirnia. (Don’t feel too bad – we never heard of Guinda, either.) July 4th was the hottest day of the year so far – at least 110 degrees. Ugh! Luckily, the couple have a giganticRead More

Last night was our 6th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, I made my soon-to-be-famous skirt steak for dinner with our best friends – Chris and Ben. We opened a 1994 Coppola zinfandel with dinner, which turned out to be outstanding. (Thanks, Dave and Sonja!) But the real treat was the sensational dessert wine Chris was kindRead More

There really wasn’t much crab at the The Port of Oakland’s First Annual Crab Crawl. Turnout was decent, and despite the blustery weather, Kelly managed to snag a couple pairs of earrings. “But Jim, they’re only twelve dollars, so I have to buy them!” This is the sort of logic I have to deal withRead More

One day we will move away from the Bay Area. Like so many others, we’ll take advantage of the ridiculously overpriced property values in the Bay Area and cash in. One potential destination is Portland, Oregon. There are lots of things to like about Portland. First of all we have several dear friends in Portland.Read More

Today we discovered that we have not one, but TWO wineries within stumbling distance of our loft. Both JC Cellars and Dashe Cellars recently opened tasting rooms less than three blocks away. What a great addition to our neighborhood. This is the kind of urban development we can support! Tasting is free, and the rich,Read More

At the last minute, we decided to host a small party this new year’s eve. The party was interesting. The power went out at 11:42 PM and stayed out for almost three hours – the longest power outage we’ve seen in the 11 years we’ve been in the loft! The party became much quieter andRead More

We were lucky enough to be invited to Napa valley for a private wine tasting at the Monticello winery on one of the nicest days of the year. Our Indian Summer started late – today will probably be the last 84 degree day this year. Thanks again to Scott and Justyna for the invitation! Wow.Read More

We had dinner with our friends Steve and Debra at Sam’s Anchor Cafe in lovely, affluent Tiburon. Sam’s Cam showed a crowded deck before we left for Tiburon, but by the time we got there the fog had moved in and it was freezing, so we ate inside. The seared Ahi tuna in an orangeRead More

A few of the other fun things that happened on this Wisconsin trip: Jimmy D. showed off his very impressive THREE monitor setup. Three 21″ LCD’s oriented vertically. Wow. Elvis Origami – layers of crispy won tons, bananas, peanut butter, honey, chocolate syrup – Kelly’s favorite dessert at B.J. Wentker’s in Burlington. Huns and Dr.Read More

thedude’s first and last stop on any trip to Wisconsin is always the fabulous Hotel David. Proprietor Steve David makes sure the cozy Corley Suite is ready for thedude whenever he’s in town. In addition to offering the most comfortable bed in town, Steve pours generously from his well-stocked wine cellar – always finding theRead More

Tonight Kelly treated us to one of her favorite events – Oakland Zoo’s fabulous Walk in the Wild. The adults-only fund-raiser features tons of food and wine, loads of animals, live music, the occasional Elvis sighting and no children. Wow. Is there a better time to be had at the zoo? I don’t think so.Read More

Weather forecasts called for overcast skies and even the possibility of rain which seemed to work in our favor today as we breezed into the city with Paul, Joanna and new friend Michael. We hit many of our usual stops – Union Square, Lefty O’Douls, the Top of the Mark and finished off the eveningRead More

We were lucky to have a few hours with our most excellent friend Olive. It was a lovely evening, so we took a short walk with Olive and her somewhat spastic dog, Frisco, to Ben and Jerry’s in beautiful Jack London Square. Yes, she ate the whole thing.Read More

Chris and Ben hosted another fabulous shindig at their home in the Oakland Hills. No Thai food this time, though. Instead, we had good ol’ steak and corn-on-the-cob. Yum! These images were all shot by Grant with his amazing Canon 5D. This dang camera produces absolutely the best color and simply amazing sharpness. I ownRead More

What a day! I don’t think we’ve had a day like this since the last time Jim and Wendy visited. We started with lunch at Tachibana – the best sushi bar in the east bay. From there, we toured the fragrant Scharffen Berger chocolate factory and sampled numerous luscious super-dark chocolates. Later that evening, weRead More

Tuesday was a busy day with an outstanding lunch at B.J. Wentger’s in Burlington, a short tour of Lake Como aboard the Kimpossible and finally a prime rib dinner with old friends at Eric and Bonnie’s fabulous estate. Kelly had a chance to witness the heart-warming hippotherapy program offered on the property before we warmedRead More

It should come as no surprise that food and wine have played a significant role in our trip so far. We had an excellent Alsacienne meal at the Chef’s Corner in Williams Bay. Dieter provided the fine cuisine, Steve supplied numerous bottles of rare wine, and we finished the evening off with a bottle ofRead More

My wonderful friends Tom and Julie gave thedude five(!) home-cooked dinners for his 50th birthday. Tonight was the first. Thanks to all for a lovely time. Dinner and conversation were fabulous.Read More

Last night’s dinner at Chris and Ben’s was awesome, as usual. This evening was made extra-special because dinner was sort of a potluck. We had Thai curried duck, Tandoori chicken and good old American potato salad and apple pie for dessert. Despite the fact that my pictures are excusively of women, I can assure youRead More

We missed our local fireworks display this Fourth of July, but that’s OK, because we had dinner at Chris and Ben’s, and just in case you don’t already know this, Ben’s cooking is as good as it gets. Tonight’s meal featured the biggest dang shrimp I’ve ever seen – a fresh-water variety all the wayRead More